lawmatters journal malaysia

Monday, March 27, 2017

The centre of gravity in any democracy is best measured by the credibility of lawmakers of Parliament, an institution that fuses there is position, represented by government. There is opposition. The space in between is occupied by debate. Socrates, famously, established democracy’s philosophical principles when he replaced competition with dialogue.but DAP lawmaker Tony Pua insists on discussion over1MDB.only nothing else DAP under the elbow-jerk leadership of DAP lawmaker Tony Pua If you insist on judgment without trial what is left to discuss? The mordant joke doing the rounds is that Pua will do anything to avoid speaking in court Perhaps the truth is simple:Pua shout instead of talking only when you have nothing to say.The plainer fact is that no one in DAP was innocent.including Lim Guan Eng did not resign because of mere allegations.Hewill go only when proof appeared in the public domain through a competent process..

a fund-raising dinner, a closed-door affair,why an UMNO Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani to a DAP fund-raising dinner, Has DAP lawmaker Tony Pua become so has invited Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani to a fund-raising dinner, at which Johari can put forth his arguments on 1MDB.a fund-raising dinner, A fund-raising dinner a closed-door affair, reported and interpreted by a select few from print like Malaysiakini UMNO Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani like to have democratised debate to a spectacular degree. Members speak in front of the largest jury in history, in the court of public opinion. By sabotaging debate, DAP is denying the Malaysian people the opportunity to hear evidence from all sides, and then make up their minds.

Finance Minister II said Governments today have to respond fast, and transparently, not because any opposition party wants this to happen, but because Malaysian public opinion will not tolerate any cover-up. Our citizens constitute the most stringent judiciary in history. If Malaysian democracy is safe, it is because of the vigilance of citizens, not the outbursts of politicians.like DAP lawmaker Tony Pua

Other speakers attending the May 6 dinner will be DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu and PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli, they have no locus standi so no way to debate;thrash out, hash out,with Johari

"Thanks for inviting me, but I have said enough in my open letter to him. I hear him and I take note of his opinion. I respect him as (an) opposition (lawmaker)," Johari said.

Science journal Nature published an investigation conducted by researchers of the University of Wroc³aw, Poland, that found 48 academic journals offering their editorship to a non-existing individual cooked up by the sting operators (‘Predatory journals recruit fake editor’).And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Gross scientific misconduct, fake data, plagiarism, retractions and faulty experimental designs have become an inseparable part of research publication.Suddenly, the hallowed portals of scientific magazines look suspect. There are thousands of ‘scientific’ journals that do not care much about quality research. They merely exist to extract fees from ‘unsuspecting’ authors. Why these authors choose to publish in these ‘predatory’ journals is another question. The journals use the worst possible marketing schemes to publish research, often without scientific rigor or transparency.

The scientific community knew this for years. In 1978-79, professors at Yale and Harvard were at the centre of research fraud that rocked the very ethos of scientific inquiry. In 1989, the US came up with regulations that defined scientific misconduct and laid out a legal procedure to address such allegations. In their research, they found peer review was ineffective against misconduct. But now it looks that even those regulations were not enough.

In his 1942 essay, The Normative Structure of Science, sociologist Robert K Merton analysed the ethos of science. “Four sets of institutional imperatives — universalism, communism, disinterestedness, organised scepticism — are taken together as the ethos of modern science,” wrote Merton. While describing ‘disinterestedness’, he wrote “passion for knowledge, idle curiosity, altruistic concern with the benefit to humanity, and a host of other special motives have been attributed to the scientist.

The quest for distinctive motives appears to have been misdirected.” So, ascientist demonstrates the “willingness to work to extend knowledge, apart from personal benefit”.

Merton defined ‘communism’ as the free sharing of one’s discoveries with others. What makes such ‘altruism possible’ is the “reward system of science”. This ‘reward’ comprises a host of things: “honour, position, power and money go to those who make discoveries first — and who claim priority by promptly publishing their findings.”

It seems with the growth of aggressive consumerism and the opening up of digital frontiers, only parts of Metron’s ‘reward system for science’ has been the prime focus for many scientists.

In this mad rush to publish for ‘honour, power, position and money’, ‘disinterestedness’ has been given a quiet burial. In fact, predatory journals extend a helping hand to those who care to get on rooftops to shout about a discovery often backed by an invisible industry.

Commercialisation of scientific research has its own issues, as is reflected by ‘code of conduct and best practices guidelines for journal editors’ of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Under the guidelines for ‘commercial considerations’, COPE states, “Journals should have policies and systems in place to ensure that commercial considerations do not affect editorial decisions (e.g. advertising departments should operate independently from editorial departments).”

While it is not easy to identify fake data or plagiarism, over the years, organisations such as COPE have developed mechanisms to weed out suspicious submissions. The latest revelations unveiled how deep the malaise is.

In the early 2000s, when the ‘no peer review’ journals saw a mushrooming growth, the number of reported cases of scientific misconduct began to grow. Most of these journals only have an electronic avatar, their reach and appeal are deep. Visibility, reach and speed of publication make them an attractive proposition to researchers looking for a place in the sun.

There were watchdogs who kept an eye on them. In January, one of them, a blog that listed “potential, possible, or probable predatory” publishers and journals disappeared. Started in 2010 by University of Colorado librarian Jeffrey Beall, at its prime, the blog evoked fear and controversy in the science publishing community. Its disappearance has dealt a body blow to science misconduct-watchers.

The belief within the community is that science will get rid of these bugs. Let’s hope it’s right.

Citing “lessons learned from online engagement with ‘Bernie Bros,’” a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC is pledging to spend $1 million to “push back against” users on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Instagram.Correct the Record’s “Barrier Breakers” project boasts in a press release that it has already “addressed more than 5,000 people that have personally attacked Hillary Clinton on Twitter.” The PAC released this on Thursday.

The PAC was created in May of last year when it was spun off from the American Bridge SuperPAC, which is run by longtime Hillary and Bill Clinton supporter David Brock. Brock also founded the left-wing media watchdog website Media Matters for America.

The web brigades , also known in English media as the DAP's Red Bean troll army, are Malaysiakini-sponsored anonymous Internet political commentators and trolls linked to DAP. Participants report that they are organized into teams and groups of commentators that participate in Russian and international political blogs and Internet forums using sockpuppets and large-scale orchestrated trolling and disinformation campaigns to promote and pro-DAP lawmaker Tony Pua

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

My one encounter,When Gobind Singh Deo ‘encounter specialists’ shoot first and whistle later shocked Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani if that is the appropriate word, with a lawmaker who had washed his hands in cold blood, The worry is that public opinion often condones “Dirty Harry” methods, in which a bullet takes precedence over due process.Only one thing is clear in this dust storm of fierce argument. We are not interested in truth. A complex reality has been distilled into campaign fodder in election season. Politics is the petrol that can turn such a fire into conflagration.when Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) posed the question to Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghaniwhether Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was a suspect in the probes related to 1MDB led to an heated argument between a minister and lawmaker.At first, Johari said he did not have an answer to that question, but when pressed, told Gobind to meet him outside.This angered the DAP legal bureau chief, who said that he wanted an answer in the House.Life’s most traumatic cemetery is surely the memory of pain, for it is buried but not dead. Neither amnesia nor vengeance is a solution, although the timid find solace in the first and the violent seek options in the second. Individuals, communities, nations have to find the spirit that can liberate them from the bonds of past anguish, to discover a future in a new perspective that is something far more than a distorted reflection of fear.

When a nation’s confidence is undermined, adversaries abroad pounce to take advantage, The fulcrum of a tipping point in public life is that mortal enemy of a politician: humour. A joke might not destroy reputation quite as effectively as a corruption scandal, but it deflates credibility. Through his long careerenough never to get tempted by a wisecrack; wit is not his forte. He might therefore be a little bewildered by the artillery fire of jokes after his disastrous mismanagement of DAPIf it is any consolation to Gobind jokes about Prime Minister i are far more harsh. As we leap-frog our way towards another general election, DAP might discover that its biggest problem is ridicule.We are in the last chapter of a drama that 1MDB has gone on too long.dreaming of resurrection on DAP a deathbed is a waste of time. For most of this term, policy was lost in a swamp. Now, decisions are made to serve as slogans.An announcement now is mercenary: to milk the environment for what votes it can bring, and postpone ensuing problems. The timing is determined not by advantage to the people but by thoughts of benefit to the party.The dark side of today’s political satire is the evil of corruption. There is a school within the ruling establishment selling the theory that corruption as an election issue has been deflected. This is delusion. The voter is not going to be finessed by the argument that all politicians are corrupt, and so theft of the present lot should be condoned. A jury can punish only the person in the dock, and the present government is on trial in the next electoral court.Jokes are the evidence and the argument in this trial; the voter is both lawyer and judge in the court of the people. But there is some good news for those on trial. The maximum sentence is just five years in wilderness. The next five years will pass as quickly as the last five.

Shakespeare, being a genius, got most things right. But, being human, he also got a few things wrong. A rose by any other name does often smell like a weed.

One dangerous misnomer is this entity called an intelligence agency. These organisations, a consistent growth industry in every nation whether times are lean or prosperous, are information accummulators. Intelligence may or may not be a by-product of their endeavours. Look no further than the case of the latest American whistleblower, Edward Snowden.

America's spymasters lost this plot long before Snowden broke cover and revealed massive incursions by US and British agencies into private lives. Their rage reflects the fury of impotence, or perhaps incompetence. Snowden did not hit and run. His sting took much preparation: he copied data, and then established contact with Julian Assange's Wikileaks and China, at the very least. Directly or indirectly, China, Russia and Ecuador knew what he was going to do before he moved. CIA, NSA and FBI were blindsided. America's intelligence was shipwrecked in an ocean of information.

One would assume, after the Wikileaks fiasco, that there would be alert mechanisms to track any unauthorized transfer of secret data by an insider. Wrong. Neither was there any security firewall between Snowden and either a pest like Wikileaks or a foreign power like China, although both must be equally high on CIA's watch list. If you imagine Snowden landed in Hong Kong by flipping a coin, you must be in kindergarten, still reading fairy tales. Conversely, if you believe China ignored the US demand for extradition because of a typing error in the application, your sense of humour is almost as nuanced as the Chinese official who thought up that whopper. The Chinese ran this operation for precisely as long as they wanted to, or Snowden would never have left Hong Kong, even if he had managed to enter this semi-liberal enclave of an authoritarian state. Snowden's story got top play in local media; and he was accompanied by a Wikileaks executive on his ride to Russia, both impossible without a silent nod from Beijing. Snowden went to Hong Kong because he was certain of a Chinese umbrella. And in Moscow, of a Russian shield. Try boarding a flight a Moscow without a valid visa on your passport. You won't get beyond check-in. Absolutely do not consider making Moscow airport a temporary residence, unless you are certain local police won't put you on the next flight to anywhere. Nor will Ecuador's friendly diplomats drop by to say hello without Kremlin's permission.

At the moment of writing, Snowden is discovering a few facts of life. Heroes have limited uses when playing cloak and dagger; the dagger can change direction in the switch of a blade. China, Russia and Ecuador were happy to use Snowden in the secret wars that continue below the surface of good relations, but reluctant to damage bilateral business with Washington beyond a point. Big boys like America carry aces up their sleeve when they sit at any table.

For some time now America has been ratcheting up an international offensive against China's invasion of cyberspace. This was high on the agenda of the summit between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping in California earlier this month. China's President kept an admirable straight face while his shadow-security infrastructure timed this double-whammy to a nicety, producing Snowden just when American protests hit a crescendo.

While spy fact imitates spy fiction, the world must come to terms with a difficult truth. Privacy, a cornerstone of individual liberty in a free society, now belongs to the past tense. America, the world's largest people-friendly democracy, and China, the world's largest people-friendly dictatorship, have used war as the excuse and technology as the means to monitor the language, and through that the thought process, of any individual they want to target. If other nations, including Russia or India, have not succeeded as spectacularly, it is not for want of trying.

Governments know something that idealists are loath to admit: the argument for liberty does not travel very far with the populace when it is positioned against terrorism. The progress towards a free society has been led by a liberal elite that flourishes in the calm of peace, and bends before the hurricane of conflict. Barack Obama turns into George Bush. Obama knows that total information is the dream of every totalitarian, but will not intervene. He is in politics. Politics is about survival first and consequences later. For every Snowden briefly on the front page, and in limbo for the rest of his life, there are dozens defeated by helplessness. That is how a state defines victory over the individual.

Obama invited Xi Jiang for their summit in California to a place called Rancho Mirage. What an excellent title for a sequel to George Orwell's 1984.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

The truth isTony Pua is less of a draw than Johari'

Is Malaysiakini being unfair to Najib and Johari ?

Tony Pua an irritating nuisance, a mirror before our guilty conscience? Who wants to be measured by the yardstick of a saint who was so disconcertingly honest , mere handful of professions are honoured with an honorific that survives beyond the office. Priests, judges, armed services officers, professors and doctors, of both the medical and academic disciplines: that’s about it. Journalists, even editors, and politicians, even cabinet ministers, would invite ridicule if they handed out visiting cards marked ‘Editor X’ or ‘Cabinet Minister Y’. Malaysians are, at best, ambivalent about media and politics. They respect our guardians of law, knowledge and security. There is a new tendency among former envoys to add ‘Ambassador’ before their name, a practice borrowed from America, but this is a title snatched from vanity rather than bestowed by popular acclaim.

The most captivating within our current political theatre is surely Malaysiakini being naïve to promote Ezam Mohd Noor the new opposition party is in the works with the single objective of fighting corruption."We only have two demands from Pakatan Harapan. Ezam wants to fight Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in Pekan in the next general election..By himself Ezam Mohd Noor cannot win a seat . But add him to a larger formation and it has a multiplier effect. If one right partner generates arithmetical Use of outmoded tactics by former PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Noormade no effort to remove moral stains on him said Johari his inability to comprehend that the canvas of electoral politics will not alter dramatically will consequently fail . will be dismissed as deceptive by voters on multiple fronts.Mahathir and Ezam humiliation will bigger than PAS and DAP indignity in 2013could be shown piloting a ship called the Titanic and saying things like “We have just hit a little iceberg but everything else is fine”.will just come across as a bunch of sore losers.progression then two can fashion a geometric leap..says there are people struggling to sort out their inner world for a meaningful life, while others are trying to hold together a damaged relationship, or are trying to raise consciousness in society, change the political system, save our planet and create universal brotherhood. The journey is daunting and often people give up.The argument that’s given usually is that one is too small to bring a change. But no one is too small and no problem is beyond them.

The party - mooted by former PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Noor yesterday - has two targets, according to former Umno man Khairuddin Abu Hassan.

Malaysiakini promote Johari as jailed bird

Every good drama needs a few sub-plots whirling through the mainframe Lim Guan Eng’s house is also very old, 40 years old to be exact. So it has very little value. Buckingham Palace is even older, 152 years old to be exact. And that is why it has even less value than Lim Guan Eng’s ‘palace’. No one would want Buckingham Palace even if the Queen gave it away free-of-charge Corruption is corruption. It does not matter whether it comes with a swimming pool or not. Did Khir Toyo go to jail because his house happened to come with a swimming pool?Evidently no low is too low for Tony Puah, no theory too farfetched as long as it fulfils the twin goals of battering the current object of his hatred and keeping him on Malaysiakini. the media out poison the minds of malaysians

in front of the largest jury in history, in the court of public opinion. sabotaging debate, DAP is denying the Malaysians the opportunity to hear evidence from all sides, and then make up their minds. If Tony Pua is dissatisfied with Irwan Serigar’s explanation,for reasons, unfathomable Tony Pua refusesto engage but criticise.If DAP feels that it has not got satisfaction from this democracy process, it can consider other options. Malaysian democracy has come to a curious pass. A government insists on discussion over an opposition demand,

Tony Pua his Dap’s home is said to be his castle. No one – not even the monarchy – can invade its privacy.However,when Lim Guan Eng’ ’s home could have not just its privacy but also its privy invaded and be turned into a loo open to any member of the public willing to shell out the established fee for the purpose.Even more important is the fact that Malaysiakini and the other pro-opposition portals and Blogs are already playing the Lim Guan Eng apologist role.Why is Rafizi Ramli not planning a road show to travel the whole country to inform the rakyat of this matter?Why is Tony Pua not asking the PAC to investigate this matter and for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to be set up so that the truth can be revealed?Why is Teresa Kok not doing a satire on YouTube so that everyone can be entrained by her clownish antics?Why is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad not launching a Save Penang Campaign and signing a Penang Peoples’ Declaration?Why are Sarawak Report and the Wall Street Journal plus the many opposition portals and Blogs not fighting for the truth and justice?"We only have two demands from Pakatan Harapan. Ezam wants to fight Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in Pekan in the next general election..By himself Ezam Mohd Noor cannot win a seat . But add him to a larger formation and it has a multiplier effect. If one right partner generates arithmetical Use of outmoded tactics by former PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Noormade no effort to remove moral stains on him said Johari his inability to comprehend that the canvas of electoral politics will not alter dramatically will consequently fail . will be dismissed as deceptive by voters on multiple fronts.Mahathir and Ezam humiliation will bigger than PAS and DAP indignity in 2013could be shown piloting a ship called the Titanic and saying things like “We have just hit a little iceberg but everything else is fine”.will just come across as a bunch of sore losers.progression then two can fashion a geometric leap..saysThere are people struggling to sort out their inner world for a meaningful life, while others are trying to hold together a damaged relationship, or are trying to raise consciousness in society, change the political system, save our planet and create universal brotherhood. The journey is daunting and often people give up.The argument that’s given usually is that one is too small to bring a change. But no one is too small and no problem is beyond them.

Political commentators agreed that it was too close to call, although UMNO was in pole position. If there was one certainty it was that there was no wave. There were a few notable voices, particularly towards the end that gave the election to UMNO

It is likelier that the bias was implicit in the way a significant section of media frames reality and this shades what it is able to see. This is a deeper problem, for here the desire to report objectively does not necessarily translate into objective reportage. Election coverage, in particular, comes with its own grammar and vocabulary.like Malaysiakini Datuk Johari Umno supreme council member is absolutely right in pin-pointing that we need to dig deep into our consciousness and decipher from where this inferiority complex has crept into the veins of our society.There are people struggling to sort out their inner world for a meaningful life, while others are trying to hold together a damaged relationship, or are trying to raise consciousness in society, change the political system, save our planet and create universal brotherhood. The journey is daunting and often people give up.The argument that’s given usually is that one is too small to bring a change. But no one is too small and no problem is beyond them. The thing is that our attention is rarely focused as we wish to multitask owing to our greed, restlessness and sensory needs.Those who understand the temperamental nature of any electoral season know that predictions are risky. It is far safer to keep your eyes open and mouth shut.

, but very few, including those sympathetic to the party, had a sense of the magnitude of the victory. And without question, this is an absolutely stunning victory. To repeat the performance of 2014 two and a half years on, in the wake of what many saw as the failed demonetization gambit, without announcing a CM candidate, is a staggering feat.

it has become clear that it is not possible for anyone to offer a meaningful prediction of the eventual outcome. The electorate is too large and diffuse, and the interplay of local and national factors too complex to be amenable to accurate forecasting. Neither the personal and direct experience of seasoned election watchers nor the scientific surveys, of which there is no shortage, seem to be able to produce results that can be relied upon. Pre-poll surveys are now entertainment rather than science, and should be viewed as such.

JOHARI ABDUL GHANI is Second Finance Minister. perhaps the world’s most articulate politician in the first decade of the 21st century.COMMENT I refer to a press statement issued today by YB Tony Pua.YB Tony Pua is well-versed in the facts concerning 1MDB, given he is a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Thus, it is disappointing to note that he has chosen to misrepresents the facts and has accused me of lying, in his desperate attempts to mislead the rakyat.The matter at hand is clear, simple and has been publicly explained, as evidenced in page 81 of the PAC Report on 1MDB.The facts are as follows:1. The TRX and Bandar Malaysia lands were originally owned directly by the government. The government made a decision to sell the lands in 2010 and 2013 respectively, to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a holding company 100 percent owned by MOF Inc. 1MDB in turn owned the lands via its 100 percent equity shareholding in two subsidiary companies, ie TRX City Sdn. Bhd. (TRXC) and Bandar Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (BMSB).2. It is clear that from the above transactions, the government ownership of the lands shifted from direct to indirect ownership, via MOF Inc ultimate ownership of 1MDB and its subsidiary companies.3. Although the Bandar Malaysia land was sold at a nominal sum to BMSB, there was a responsibility to construct/upgrade six bases for the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and two bases for the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), for a total development cost of RM 2.7 billion, of which 1MDB had to contribute RM1.6 billion.4. Although the TRX land was sold at a nominal sum to TRXC, there was a responsibility to construct infrastructure not only in TRX but also in the surrounding areas, including a vehicular tunnel under Jalan Tun Razak, for a total sum of approximately RM 3 billion.5. TRXC and BMSB undertook debts of RM 800 million and RM2.4 billion respectively, to undertake the construction of infrastructure and the six air force/two police bases referred to above. These debts were always attached to the said land when these two companies raised their financing and thus form part of the security for the said debts. In other words, it is an operating debt of these two companies.6. With the infrastructure development and planning approvals obtained by TRXC and BMSB from 2010/2013 to the present day, the value of the TRX and Bandar Malaysia lands have increased in value significantly.6. The PAC recommended in April 2016 that MOF Inc take over direct ownership of Bandar Malaysia and TRX lands from 1MDB. The most efficient and cost-effective way to achieve this is via a transfer of TRXC and BMSB shares to MOF Inc. So, instead of owning those companies via 1MDB, MOF Inc will directly own BMSB and TRXC, along with all the assets and the operating debts of the respective companies.7. The TRXC and BMSB debts will be repaid by future cashflows of these companies as described in page 81 of the PAC Report. Further, whilst TRXC will continue to be 100 percent owned by MOF Inc, it is pertinent to note that a sale and purchase agreement has been executed with a consortium for the sale of 60 percent equity shareholding in BMSB.8. More importantly, page 81 of the PAC Report also makes clear that the debts that will remain on the balance sheet of 1MDB are the RM 5 billion sukuk, the US$3.0 billion bond and the 2x US$1.75 billion bonds. These 1MDB debts will be serviced from matching cashflows, as described in the PAC Report. Whilst MOF Inc will not be taking over these 1MDB debts, the substance of the letter of support and guarantee from the government, remains intact, as described in the PAC Report.There is therefore a clear distinction between 1MDB debts, which will not be taken over by MOF Inc, and the BMSB/TRXC project company operating debt, which are part of the assets and liabilities of the company and which will be serviced from the project cash-flows.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Malaysiakini haves been particularly nasty in the last few years against UMNO and Najib

journalists and still biased against Najib,The difference between stenography and journalism is that journalists have the right to twist a fact, bring in alternative facts, make a fact check and question the very premise of presentation. they are supposed to report honestly about, so that their readers,Malaysian who are mostly ignorant, get enlightened? should be to report truthfully and create some empathy amongst its readers or viewers for a country that is unique and endearing and whose Malay civilization, that viewed the world as One family, has survived centuries of savage onslaught, including by the British, who are still trying to lecture Najib AND UNMO also read this.Has Najib and Hadi charting a muddled path for Malaysia at the most severe political risk Stenography presents things as they are, similar to the way imagined a good spiritual life. Learning the art of seeing things as they are, as he used to say, learning to see what is.also read this Azmin Ali :If Mahathir want to kiss the feet of PAS leaders that is his business Arithmetic or chemistry? Political calculations Mahathir had not got the right read on the state PAS of today. the infighting would really undermine the party candidates, with opposing camps proving much more iinjurious to PAS than :Pakatan Harapan another political calculations of illogic from Hadi to justify his rejection of the opposition front and the embracement of Najib Razak/Umno, is another strong indication that he has allegedly received something ‘unholy’ from Najib (as widely perceived by the public) to make him obligated to the latter.sometimes patronizingly hypocritical? It’s time to dump Hadi if PAS still wants to save the party from impending ruin.

In a media statement today, DAP lawmaker Gobind Singh Deo denied the former law minister's statement on Dr Mahathir Mohamad being the de facto leader of the opposition.Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is Pakatan Harapan's opposition leader who will lead the coalition in the coming general election, said PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

"We have an opposition leader, Wan Azizah, and we are preparing for the upcoming national polls,

The unknown factor in DAP is the emergence of as a brand in his own right. In the last few weeks, he has shown deft political footwork and has emerged as a new kind of option in the political landscape. The alliance with the DAP gives him just that little edge that might turn out to be decisive, but it isn’t entirely clear as to how deep his support runs. He is a new variation on an old theme, the strength of whose appeal is an open question. a larger uncertainty that both the government and the party are exuding currently. The party seems tentative about the exact proportions in which to juggle its electoral ingredients- how much to back development, what role should race and religion fault lines play, how effective would the plank of nationalism be in GE14 elections, and of course whether to try and ride on 1MDB or to hold back given the uncertainty around its impact on the voter. The government too seems to be in wait-and-watch mode, not giving any clear indication about what its future direction might be. Will it continue it’s wooing of the poor- ‘the tired pro-poor PAS rhetoric’, as it has been described, at the cost of its traditional support base, or will the reform thrust return in any significant way?

Some things however are a little more certain. Whether or not party hopping will work electorally, what he has achieved however is something potentially not significant in the long run for Hadi Awang It has NOT made him a truly mainstream brand.onlyMuslim voter in Malaysia now knows him and has some personal emotional reaction to him. Money reaches everyone; as a vehicle of a political message it is a more effective advertising medium than any other. It is possible that some or indeed many of these reactions are negative, but he has become the only politician in recent times, after Indira Gandhi to have managed this depth of reach. It is crystal clear to me that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang is morbid about non-Malays and non-Muslims winning seats in GE14 and is bent on working with Umno to deny the opposition from getting any further footings from the last election. PAS looks doomed for certain, and that is hardly a surprise, but the real revelation has been that Umno is likely to gain much as a result.

This Saturday, President Trump, while addressing a rally in Florida, said the following to defend his travel ban for refugees from seven major Muslim countries: “You look at what´s happening in Germany, you look at what´s happening last night in Sweden”. He further added, “Sweden, Who would believe this? They took in large numbers. They´re having problems like they never thought possible.”The fact of the matter is that it is true that Sweden took in a record- breaking large number of refugees last year. Approximately around 160,000 new arrivals to Sweden. Did they have any terrorist attack last Friday? No. These are straight facts. Was Donald Trump referring to Sehwan in Pakistan or Sweden in Scandinavia? Sehwan in Pakistan did witness a terrorist attack in which more than 70 people lost their lives at a famous Sufi shrine. Malaysiakini an unconscious sense of superiority

Fact checking is the new fashionable word added to our political lexicon, used in the modern world for justifying one’s point of view. Those who fought the campaign for President Trump and his supporters feel that it was outrageous when, just a day before the presidential election, The Huffington Post published a presidential forecast, predicting that Hillary Clinton had a 98.2% chance of winning the election. Mildly speaking, this turned out to be incorrect. contrast to the spiritual experience, the political world gets complicated by facts, such as who presents it, for what purpose and with what particular affiliation. Questioning strengthens journalism, makes it highly relevant and interesting, but when facts are presented without consulting the source or substantiating them with verifiable facts, it raises concern.Wouldn´t it be nice if some journalist, somewhere in the West, bothers to check an alternative fact: The United States and its allies were dragged into a war in Afghanistan, trying to catch Osama Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda supporters, who were probably hiding in Pakistan? After having donated 20 billion dollars during the period 2002 till 2011 to Pakistan, Americans truly became aware of the double-game played by that country. Osama Bin Laden was not in Afghanistan, he was in Pakistan. American tax payers paid for an expensive war in Afghanistan, while donating money to the country that was actually housing the terrorist. A bitter truth, a bitter pill to swallow for a country that spends billions of dollars to research and investigate terrorism.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Since ages, we have been witness to an incessant face off between faith and logic. European enlightenment exposed certain flaws in blind faith and ushered in an era of rationality, and logic became the dominant paradigm.Detractors of PAS' proposed amendments to Act 355 do not fear the law itself, but the unity of Muslims who back it and the "victory" of Islam that would ensue, said Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Aziz.with it the future of the ‘Pivot to PAS’ policy Najib and UMNO had instituted has Malaysia been pushed into uncertainty.PAS youth chief said : "They do not fear the amendments to the act per se. It is negligible and does not affect them. Their lives will go on as usual.

Najib’s historic Malaysians asks a question that repeatedly withers on the dry sand of evasive clichés. How long will the apartheid of two laws for the same crime continue?Another barbaric chapter of an epic conflict between the presence and promise of modernity, and the bitter, toxic romance of regression was written by Najib and Hadi Neither goes into a brown study to ponder the causes of political terrorism, a manipulative phrase designed specifically to provide cover for perpetrators of political terrorism Neither the Chinese nor Hindus public opinion would accept such a pussyfoot leadership.This war, raging across the world, is a confrontation between the lethal adrenalin of faith supremacy and belief that faith equality is the basis of civilised political and social stability. The epicentre of this war is within the Muslim successor states of the Mughal and Ottoman empires; but its destructive reach extends far beyond its immediate habitat.Corruption is the mechanism through which a section of our elite has poisoned the credibility of our nation’s political and economic edifice. Governments have been either complicit or helpless as high end individuals, buoyed by the arrogance of unaccounted wealth, began to believe that they were above the law or beyond the reach of coercive instruments.Nothing illustrates the complacency of this class more than the manner in which it ignored we underestimate the power of those vested interests which have been challenged. Their ability to shape public opinion by compounding some inevitable pain in process through exaggeration and fear was on full display. But they underestimated one fact that voters to assault this pervasive monsters with sustainable commitment. that Malaysians are not willing to accept passing discomfort as the collateral price of the struggle against the rampant PAS fanaticism. This is why such a massive change to take place without violence. Almost 70pct of our population are Muslim. Over 90pct of ministers and CMs are Muslim so you already have the powerPAS has turned Islam into a religion of fear and intimidation. There is no difference between the ideologies of Islamic terrorists like Taliban, Abu Sayyaf and Isis, and that of PAS Act 355 is an attempt to intimidate and mislead gullible Muslims into supporting PAS and Umno, who would otherwise be accused of apostasy. Act 355 is nothing more than an instrument to impose severe punishment on wrongdoers.A true religion seeks to be merciful and forgiving towards sinners, to give them hope, rather than to punish. It was once said by a great man, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at the sinner.”It's a bad idea to get elected on a racial basis. It's just as bad to get elected on religious basis.What Hadi is in effect saying is that Malaysia must be an Islamic state notwithstanding the ideology of our Founding Fathers nor the fact that the economy of the nation is dependent to a large extent on the efforts of non-Muslims.PAS that Umno has been responsible for our racial and religious intolerance, the use of race and religion as political tools, the destruction of the rule of law and ethical conduct, promoting a culture where corruption and greed are acceptable values, failure to hold people to account for their crimes, a preferential and entitlement mentality, destruction of our education system, the breeding of utterly incompetent politicians,PAS also seems to be totally blinded to the contributions of the East Malaysians where a significant percentage of the people are non-Muslims. Does Hadi want to turn Malaysia into a Syria, Iraq, Iran or Yemen?God does not need you or tiny mortals to fight for him or defend him because he is the supreme, all-powerful, infinite soul who fills out the infinite universe and you are just a speck of dust consisting of a tiny finite soul that fills out a tiny finite body.Both culminates into discrimination against other religions and other races, makes the majority of people in this country less tolerant, making Malaysia less welcoming, and makes us less prominent in the world.Hadi, now you admit that gerrymandering is rampant. Why then did you prohibit your members from participating in Bersih 5 which demanded for free and fair elections?Umno and PAS are both dinosaurs in an age where Internet technology is revolutionising the way we solve global problems, transact and interact with one another.

Often, people make a mistake and then add to it by making yet another mistake: by trying to justify their mistake. But what they should actually do on making a mistake is reflect on and seek to discover why they made that mistake in the first place.If you don’t do that and, instead, you seek to justify your mistake after committing it, you remain just where you were before. On the other hand, if you seek to find out why you made that mistake, you will save yourself from repeating it.This is a natural fact. It is reflected in a hadith, narrated from Anasibn Malik, according to which the Prophet said, “Every person commits sin, and the best of those who commit sin are those who repent.” (IbnMajah, hadith no. 4251) The fact is that no human being possesses total knowledge. Because of this, people often adopt wrong views and opinions.There are often errors in their plans. The virtue of human beings is not that they are immune from making mistakes. Rather, their virtue lies in their being willing to acknowledge their mistakes and to bring their actions into conformity with reality.Aperson who does not acknowledge his mistakes has to pay the price of continuing to remain stuck in his wrong approach. Accordingly, he deprives himself of confidence, because he chooses to remain in that groove even though he recognises that it is wrong.Moreover, his actions cannot produce meaningful results, and his plans will fail to produce the results that he seeks.Turning Penang into FT is an activity designed to overthrow or undermine parliamentary democracy by unconstitutional means is an offence under the Section 124B of the Penal Code.According to Tengku Adnan, turning Penang into a federal territory can help make home ownership affordable. If the Federal Territories under his watch is anything to go by, Kuala Lumpur has more soup kitchens and vagrants than most states in Malaysia, including Penan